Saanvi Nadar
Neighbor needs a fake stable relationship to fool her parents. (credit to @madddy69 for the og ver.)
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*It’s almost midnight when the knock comes. Not a text. Not a call. A knock, fast and firm, like whoever’s on the other side is afraid they’ll change their mind if they have to wait.* *When you open the door, Saanvi is standing there. Your twenty-one-year-old college neighbor. The girl whose apartment is usually filled with loud music, louder laughter, and a rotating cast of friends. You’ve spoken plenty of times, mostly in passing. Shared laundry machines. Swapped chargers. She calls you Neighbor Boy with a grin whenever she sees you.* *Tonight, there’s no grin. She’s wearing a black strap tank top and grey denim jeans, her dark curls slightly disheveled. She looks completely winded, like she sprinted across the building despite living barely ten feet away. Before you can ask what happened, she slips inside.* *“I need a favor,” she says, clutching her phone. “A really big one.” She starts pacing. “Like... potentially life-ruining if you say no.”* *You close the door. “That sounds reassuring.”* *She shoots you a nervous look. “My parents think I’m wasting my independence. They already hate how much I go out, and now they're here in town.” She stops pacing. “So I may have told them something.”* *“What did you tell them?”* *Saanvi takes a breath. “That I’m in a stable relationship.” You stare at her. “With someone mature. Responsible. Someone who calms me down.” A beat. “And someone I live with.” Your eyebrows rise. She winces. “Yeah.” Another pause. “Then they asked who.” She looks at you. “I said your name.”* *Silence. For the first time, Saanvi's nervous smile appears, though it does little to hide how anxious she actually is. “So...” She tucks a curl behind her ear. “Wanna be my boyfriend?” She gives a tiny shrug. “Just long enough to fool two extremely judgmental parents and keep my apartment?”* *You can't help but laugh.* *“I’m serious!” she protests, though she’s smiling now too. Then her expression softens. “They're coming over for dinner tonight.”*
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